REVENGE OF THE SITH

Part VI – The True Threat

The true species of Sith had been glorious in the days of their reign. They had nearly the entire galaxy in their grasp until their pettiness and thirst for power overwhelmed them. But they lived. They survived and led another generation of followers, though not as powerful as they themselves.

They had learned much from those Jedi that had come to their planet of Korriban and had taught them about the Force; they in turn taught them how to use the Force properly – to gain their rightful place in the universe.

In the wake of Revan’s return to known space and that of the events surrounding the Jedi exile turned Sith Lord, the true species of Sith were looking forward to regaining their strength.

And they found the perfect vehicle in a very angry young man…

The mood onboard the Ebon Hawk was that of disbelief and shock. The news Revan had blurted – that the Jedi exile turned Sith Lord was in truth in league with the true species of Sith – had virtually floored all those that had heard it, but none as much as Revan himself.

The former master of the Jedi Order had quickly fled into the starboard dorms, still shaking from the fight they endured on Yavin. The young man just couldn’t wrap his mind around what he had seen.

If he didn’t know better, those were Massassi warriors that had attacked them. The Massassi had been wiped out by Exar Kun in a final bid to outrun the Republic and Jedi that had followed him to the moon. And those terantateks! Revan hadn’t seen those beasts since he had been made to enter Naga Sadow’s tomb on Korriban for his Sith completion test.

Revan shook his head. This wasn’t good. He had been right when he said he was a fool – he had thought Ellis was smarter than this; the Sith, for Pete’s sake! He was pacing back and forth, his fists clenching and unclenching in nervousness. He hadn’t recovered all the information he knew about the Sith, but he had discovered and learned much as he could during those five years he’d been away.

The Sith were remarkable creatures, able to manipulate the Force like no other being adapted to it; they had adopted magic in to the aspects of the Force – They could create Force storms that could rip the space/time continuum; they could create illusions that would seem fully real to those that saw them…

They even had the ability to rip the Force from someone, as was apparent by what Bastila and Carth told him about Vrook and Ell on Dantooine.

And in Revan’s searches, he had discovered they could also wipe the mind of someone, erase their memories – like the procedure the Jedi Council had done to him all those years ago.

He didn’t dare tell everyone what he had learned because he still needed to learn more and for that, he would need the help of one Visas Marr. And that meant he would need Canderous.

The former Jedi stopped his pacing, feeling Bastila coming to his hideaway. He sent her a message, saying he needed to be alone; he needed to think. She stopped her approach, but he could still feel her hovering by the door, waiting for him to once again make an appearance.

But he couldn’t.

Only now did he realize the danger he was bringing everyone into; Bastila was right – he had been overly confident that the problem between him and Ellis would easily be solved and was sorely disappointed when he had seen with his own eyes that Ellis was in a place that he wouldn’t be easily removed from. And it was a place Revan knew better than anyone.

For he had been in that place and had only been removed by force — or rather betrayal.

Revan fully realized that this wouldn’t be as simple as he thought it would be.

The atmosphere around the planet had only just been made habitable after the destruction it had been privy to four years ago. The planet was finally able to grow to what it had been, at least slightly. The planet had been left to die, rotting corpses lay everywhere, the surface darkened by the atrocities that happened. In a word, the planet was dead.

And this was the world that Visas Marr had returned to.

The woman, who had known the loss and tragedy that stemmed from the very planet, still wasn’t prepared when she had first stepped foot on its surface; the very aura of it caused her to tremble and if it wasn’t for her companion that had stood next to her, she surely would’ve fainted. The barren wasteland of what had been a beautiful planet lay before her and it truly did bring tears to her eyes.

It had only been a little over a year since she had arrived on her birth planet and only a few months since the planet had begun to heal from the destruction that the dark lords had brought in their wake.

It was still barren and Visas felt that the planet would never be as great as it had been, not that she could really tell. The attributes of a Miraluka made it so the beauty of the world could only be felt, not seen; Visas knew destruction – just as she had felt it from the exile.

She gave a sigh, as she stood inside the doorway of the small home she managed to refurbished – it was moderate, with a few chairs and a bed within in the back room. She was grateful for the small amount she had gotten, but she couldn’t help the sadness that would come to her when she looked out onto her world.

That past year she had spent trying to find others like herself, hoping to make the deadened world alive again – she managed to gather a few, who were doing their best to make the world into…something. The woman realized that perhaps trying to build a beautiful world was a bit optimistic when none of her people could ever really truly see it.

The beeping of her computer console alerted her to the present and she made her way over. Accepting the call, she saw a familiar grizzled face staring back at her. “This is a surprise,” she said, a small smile on her face. “What do I owe the pleasure of the great Mandalore?”

The man chuckled. “I wanted to know if you’d like some company.”

“If it’s yours, of course.” She wasn’t sure, but she thought there was a hint of a blush.

“Not just me,” he replied, grinning. “Friends of mine, actually.” At her raised eyebrow, he chuckled again. “Revan’s back.”

“The prodigal knight.”

“One in the same.”

“You’re happy to have him back.” She stated, the smile never leaving her face.

“Don’t let that get around.” He smirked.

“So when will I have the mighty Mandalore to myself?”

The man smiled softly at her. “I’m thinking of taking a vacation,” he replied. “When I bring Revan there, I mean.”

“Why exactly is he coming here?” she questioned.

“To speak to you,” he said, sensing her next question. “I don’t know why, but it has to do with your time in Nihilus’ clutches.”

“Clutches?” she chuckled.

He smirked. “Listen,” he whispered. “I need to go. I’ve got another call coming in, I can tell.”

“I miss you.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He smiled. He leaned over to cut the transmission, when she stopped him.

“Canderous…”

He looked up at her, not needing to hear the question. She wore a blindfold over her eyes; the red and black mask she had use to wear now discarded. He often wondered what color her eyes could’ve been had she not been born a Miraluka, knowing that the species had no eyes to speak of. He knew she could see him, at least his form and the color of his aura.

“I do have an image to uphold…” he started.

“Please?”

He sighed, trying to look put out. “You’re making me look bad.” He said. She giggled softly. “I love you.” He said after a moment. “And miss you, you know that.”

Her smile grew bigger. “I know,” she whispered. “I just like hearing you say it.”

The Mandalorian again chuckled, before giving her a wink, and closing the connection. The young woman was again left to her thoughts and they were now focused on the former Jedi and Sith, Revan.

Why was he coming to see her? Canderous said that he had wanted to talk to her about her time in the Sith, but why? Surely he wasn’t clamoring to be Sith Lord again, especially when it seemed that Ellis Yoly had taken that upon himself. She didn’t want to think about what this could mean for the Sith or the galaxy for that matter.

Suddenly, she wasn’t looking forward to this meeting.

Dustil roamed the halls of the Ebon Hawk, familiarizing himself with the layout of the ship. A part of him also wanted to know what the appeal was to this small smuggling vessel; this was the second time his father had wanted to fly it and certainly Revan had an affinity for it. Looking around, it could see the charm the little ship had.

As he made his way down the corridor towards the garage and the port dorms, he almost collided with Mission. After her stunt in the palace on Onderon, Dustil had gone out of his way to avoid her. The two hadn’t spoken since. “Sorry bout that.” He said, backing away. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

The Twi’lek opened her mouth for a witty retort, but stopped, closing her mouth and nodding. “S’okay,” she muttered. “I should’ve warned you so you’d know.”

The two stood awkwardly for a moment before Dustil laughed, causing Mission to look at him in confusion. “Are you that scared of me?” he asked.

“Scared of you?”

“You know,” he said.”Cause I’m a ‘Sith boy’. Afraid I’m going to fall to the dark side again?”

“What?” she exclaimed. “No! I mean…”

Dustil sighed. “Look,” he whispered. “I know you don’t have a valid reason to trust me, other than my dad is the pilot, but I’d like you to at least try to give me a chance. I’m sorry about that comment I made when we first met. I shouldn’t have said that and I certainly don’t want you to think that’s how I felt about Twi’leks, cause I don’t.”

Mission giggled, amused by his ramblings on how he respected all species of life and was quite fond of Twi’leks. “Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I’ll let you off the hook. But only if you’ll accept my apology for calling you a bunch of names, which may or may not have been said to your face.”

The young man chuckled. “I guess I’ll have to, with that kind of apology.” The two shared another laugh before sobering.

“Do you think trouble’s coming?” she asked, softly.

The young Jedi leaned against the side of the corridor. “Because of what Revan said?”

Mission shrugged. “It’s more of how he acted and how he sounded than anything he said.”

“I think trouble is coming, yes,” he said, slowly. “I could feel it when I was on Onderon.” At her questioning look, he amended with, “Those who can wield the Force can often sense the presence of darkness, like the dark side.”

“Do you feel it stronger?” she asked. “I mean, since…well…you know.”

Dustil just nodded. “I think…” he began. “I think that’s why Revan is so upset. I think…” He gave her a look.”Did something happen on Yavin 4?”

The young woman let out a shaky breath before she nodded. “It was…really bad.” Was all she would say.

Again, the young man nodded. “You know the stories of Yavin, correct?” Mission nodded. “I think being on the planet may be affecting Revan. It’s…difficult to…push all those feelings you get while being on a dark sided planet.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

Again, the two were silent, but their stance was no longer awkward. “You know,” Dustil began. “I’ve been wandering this ship with no idea of what exactly I’m looking for. Care to show me around?” He gave her what he hoped was a dashing smile.

It must have been, for Mission smiled shyly and a small blush made its way to her cheeks. “Well,” she said, standing straighter. “I do know this ship like the back of my hand.”

“Then I should be in good hands.” His smile widened slightly and the blush on Mission’s face just got deeper.

She nodded, before brushing past him into the main hold. Dustil could only follow.

The air was putrid and clouds cast shadows on the planet’s surface, the only light coming from the cracks of the lightening from the storm. No one knew of the planet or at least no one ventured there, which made it such a wonderful hiding place.

There was also the fact that no one knew that the planet had residents; residents who had been on the planet for a thousand and fifty years. They had fled here after their empire had crumbled beneath them, just waiting for the moment in which they could return, could have the full power they had squandered away.

They had their vehicles; angry young Jedi who had come to realize their precious order was nothing but a bunch of hypocritical old men. These Jedi were easy to assemble, however only a few were able to bring about the changes they needed in order to return.

One of these Jedi was Freedon Nadd, who ushered in a hierarchy on the planet Onderon. He had ruled there and had trained many of his descendants to rule by the dark side; then there was the ever talented Exar Kun, who along with his apprentice Ulic Qel-Droma, nearly destroyed the Republic. And another great talent of Darth Revan, who like Kun, had the Republic on their knees.

But like others in their past, these greats had been betrayed by one of their own. So close had these refugees been to regaining their rightful place in the galaxy.

But as in the past, there was another and this time it truly seemed as though they would rise again. This exile, this Ellis Yoly, had already shaken the galaxy and all the Republic needed was a final push before it crumbled.

The young man had been taught well by not only Revan and his apprentice Malak, but by the old crone Kreia. And when the young Sith Lord contacted them, they learned he was also the student of Exar Kun.

Now they sat within the housing that represented their meeting room, quite lowbrow compared to their great hall on Ziost, but in order to avoid detection, they stayed on this planet. But they gathered here to talk about the new Sith Lord – this Darth Trayun – and how in only a short year, he had managed to do something only their great lords had done in the past.

For the moment, the young man was building silos for them, on the planets they had to flee in order to escape the hand of the Republic Fleet. They had learned from their leader that former lord Revan was to work against them.

But they had planned for this and their plan was to corrupt, slowly but surely, until the majority of the galaxy was once again until their rule. They would just call in a ‘favor’ to those they controlled to make sure Revan would be waylaid for a while. Then, they would find the last remaining Jedi to help dispose of Revan’s meddling.